Show Reviews

This was my first show since the 2004 Vegas run - I think it's appropriate to give some perspective. My first show was November 1995 and over the course of the next 9 years I saw roughly 75 shows including every New Years show from 95-2002 and generally some of the great gigs of the 95-97 era. That three-night run in Vegas marked my retirment on Night 2 as I decided that I'd seen it all and done it all - I sold my Night 3 ticket and thought that was it. I opted not to go to any shows in the comeback year but have listened to a few here and there.
7/4/10 was my first show back, and I brought my wife who is not a fan but I wanted her to see what it was all about. The lot scenario was the best I've ever seen at a show - we had Lot A tickets and pulled into our spot within 5 minutes of getting in line. We chilled with some good folks and enjoyed the friendliness - it reminded me of when I was 16 and saw my first Dead show in 1994 and all the older folks who were so kind and generous. On a side note - there were so many young kids out there that it was kinda shocking!
A bunch of ticketless people out and about when we approached the venue at around 7:45.
We got in and sat on the lawn with some friends - what a gorgeous venue it was! Reminded me most of Merriweather with the open air and woods-like setting.
Star-Spangled Banner was not unexpected, and the PYITE was really well played. I've always been a huge fan of that song as an opener.
The Forbins-Mockingbird was unexpected, relatively. It didn't surprise me that they'd pull a narration song on this Independence Day, but the straight Forbin-Mockingbird was a shock sans narration - when was the last time that happened? And to be honest, I called the Harpua when they failed on the narration in Forbins.
Camel Walk was next and this was killer - what a great start to a show! Seriously... this was classic stuff. I thought I heard a little Jimmy Page jam in the Walk, but maybe I'm wrong on that.
The middle part of the Set was cool - Ocelot is a really catchy tune - I'm not too familiar with all the newer songs but this one is a keeper in my book. I think we had a Lawnboy in there, which was fine.
I hadn't seen MFMF live since 1996 and it's always been one of my favorites... can't argue with the execution here either.
I thought the Bowie would close the set. It wasn't anything to write home about, but always fun to get the thrills at the end.
The Jiboo was the jammiest part of the set, and Trey really soared on this one. It was hard groove and a welcome closer to a really above average set to be honest.
Disease to open was stellar - I'm of the old school and familiar with DWD openers... this one wasn't anything that would rank in the upper echelons of Disease, but toward the end of the jam Trey really started to crank that industrial guitar and it reminded me of the great jams of the 2003/2004 period. It was short-lived as Piper began... which I read people are saying was botched? Huh? That song is loose dude - it's not a composed intricate song. It's undergone some revision it sounds like with less fooling around and more bring the heat.
The entry into Ghost was predictable, and welcome! Disease->Piper->Ghost is a great start to a second set! None of the jams would rank highly in my book, but a great three song run. Trey's tone just isn't very strong anymore - but Mike and Fish were really crunching in this section.
Waste flub was what it was... and I don't take myself serious enough to get angry with it. Julius seemed to rage - I've never been a huge fan of the song but they really got it on there. Mikes is usually my favorite part of the show, but I know it's just not even close to as fun as it once was. I was so happy that they didn't go into Hydrogen, and was fine with Tela. Tela's never been my favorite and it's a little cheesy, but anything other than Hyrogen (within reason here) was welcome. The Harpua was played really well to start - good thumping groove.
The narration was entertaining - they're almost all entertaining really! Not sure what the message about lying textbooks was about... was it a political message? It's the kind of thing you hear on conservative talk radio... but was playful.
THe intro into the Killing in the Name Of was just classic - reminded me of the 1995 New Years run with Shine. I thought maybe a guest appearance but nobody had ever walked out with mics or anything.
I'm not a Rage fan, but I'm not gonna lie on this - it was easily the highlight of the set. They freakin' NAILED it! Such adrenaline pumping. For those that witnessed the Sabotage outbreak at Merriweather summer 1998 - you'll know what I mean. It wasn't a stupid Fish hip-hop cover. It was balls to the wall slamming music that had the entire shed pumping fists and banging heads - all splashed in white light. It was so energizing it was insane!
I'll be honest - halfway through the Groove we headed for the door. I love a good Groove but we'd seen the good stuff.
We heard First Tube as we walked to our car and I couldn't have been happier with the show. I'm not jumping on tour or anything, but it's safe to say that any doubts I had about Phish's ability to put on a killer show were put to bed.
It's a whole different ball game to attend these shows. I wonder now what 90's Phish would have been like with the instant access to recordings. Part of what made the classics classic was the word of mouth that was able to spread as we all searched for good quality tapes. It sometimes took months to get your hands on shows, and those who were there set the bar. Finally hearing the tapes was an event... now it's just a tool for people at home to sit back and nit-pick every little mis-step. Phish doesn't jam as well as they used to - that's pretty obvious. But nothing should be taken away from a killer show, and those that were at 7/4/2010 know they got a killer show, no matter what anybody listening to LivePhish says.

Both 7/3 and 7/4 are underrated because they were expected to be Type 2 jam fests. Instead these shows ooze Phish: Destiny, McGrupp, Col Forbins, Tela, Harpua ... and played with unprecedented energy. Great venue, amazing to be there, and I highly recommend you listen to these shows.

Wow! How can I sum up the show better than the words of my girlfriend, Sheridee, who attended her first PHiSH concert on July 4th: "That was the coolest thing!"

So, here is my report. First off, since it was the 4th of July, we guessed they would do Star Spangled Banner. I have seen them do this on a few other occasions, notably in Atlanta 14 years ago in its same a capella form at the end of the first Halloween set. What was great about this was looking around and seeing MANY people with their hands and hats over their hearts singing loudly then at the end, a ROUSING chant of USA! USA! USA! was spread over the entire amphitheater! So cool! We knew PYITE was coming after hearing SEVERAL people in the parking lot, hotel rooms, and random conversations before the show seemed to feel it. Colonel Forbin's Ascent> Mockingbird, a nod to Trey's college thesis "The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday" and part of the Gamehendge associated story/song list, was something I had not seen since Vegas 2000 and it was whole-heartedly welcomed by the entire crowd with a large and rowdy CHEER from all in attendance, even in its abbreviated and sans-Trey talking version. I had mentioned in a status update before the weekend that I wanted to see the Mockingbird so I was pleased for that reason since it had been almost ten years since I have seen it live. Camelwalk is an early-era PHiSH song and caught me by surprise and is a superbly sublime funk song began by "going downtown to the disco!" that led into some of the first real "grooving" in this show. Ocelot has a feeling that immediately reminds me of the Grateful Dead's "He's Gone" and its bluesy overtones. This was the only real NEW song we saw all night, ie new in its relationship to anything pre-2000 hiatus. What an old school feeling this show had from the get-go. Heavy Things > My Friend was superb! A poppy upbeat song into a darkly delivered story from the early 90's was a strangely perfect pairing. I didn't think that Lawn Boy "came out of" My Friend but it was a wonderful addition to the set where we were supposed to have close-up seats but ended up out in the lawn. I had said earlier that afternoon "Lawn Boy tonight" and it was perfect. The Bowie>Jibboo combo was absolutely DEAD ON FIRE. A quick excursion into Bowie led way into the phunkiest Jibboo I have ever heard in several live PHiSH and Trey versions I have witnessed. The guitar acrobatics were awesome and the relisten to the show via tapes back me up. SOLID PHIRST SET.

Second set was almost scary it was so good. Everyone had been calling Down with Disease and it did not disappoint, although to me, it seemed short and didn't go out as far as it has in the past visits I have been lucky to see, such as Great Went or Salt Lake (Dark Side of the Moon Show) in 1998. But its saving virtue was the "into" part where it melted right into my new favorite version of Piper. Mind melting to this sober attendee. The Ghost afterwards was something I had also been calling and was as phunky and groovy as anything Trey and the boys can pull off. One of my favorite songs since 1997 of ANY band, this version was just plain goodness. Sheridee was really grooving hard during this song and I knew in my heart that she was well on her way to having a truly lasting experience and it gave me a strange feeling of pride to watch her jamming on her own so hard and so free. Speaking of Dee, one of the first songs that she dug by PHISH was Waste--the version that came after Ghost was great even though Trey flubbed the first verse. I made up my own words as we swayed holding onto each other "Come waste your time with me (watching PHiSH in Alpharetta)" was definitely NOT a waste of time. Julius popping up mid-set gave me such a rush I can't explain. Usually a set ender or an encore, this mid set location was an indicator that the rest of the set was gonna be outta hand.

The MIke's>Groove sandwich was like its own MINI-Set and gets its own paragraph. MIkes Song was short yet STILL jammed out and phunky like it should be. Don't know what the total time was as I write this review, but it seemed short maybe like 6 minutes instead of some of the longer Mike's I have seen. As the jam part ended and the first notes of Tela floated out into the clear night sky, I am sure plenty of other old PHiSH heads jaws dropped at this stunning song choice. "Lullaby the breezes whisper" the words imagery tells you of the love felt by for Tela by Colonel Forbin in this second set nod to Gamehendge pairing the two sets with the already played Colonel Forbin's Ascent. "A sky blue mirrors in her eyes!" As the notes of Tela closed and the crowd was screaming, I looked over at Jason and said "oom pah pa oom pa pa, oom" and before I finished the opening lines of Harpua, the band started singing the same lyrics and we launched off into the the most insane Harpua I have seen since they did it in the aforementioned Salt Lake 98 show, where they played the ENTIRE Dark Side of the Moon album as part of the "background comedic Jimmy's cat Poster Nutbag fighting with Harpua" story that is usually location specific but in every version of the song I have seen in the 9 times I have seen it played live. In this version, since it was 4th of July, Trey told of a different version of American History, where Jimmy's ancestor and his "fat sweaty bulldog, Harpua" swam over from Europe holding onto a log and watched as the country was ravaged and taken over and increasingly became angry over the past several hundred years, and, of course, this anger was why Harpua and Poster Nutbag (Jimmy's cat) got into a fight. They then shocked us all and covered PERFECTLY, with Fishman holding town Zack's vocals from Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" and the crowd went completely nuts! It felt like a punk show from 1983 as I was pogoing around and screaming "F*ck no, I won't do what you tell me." The jam back into Harpua and into Weekapaug Groove was slippery and phunky and PERFECTLY done. "Trying to make a woman match your moves" could not have been more perfect as I felt like Dee and I had the exact same bounce and groove going like we were off Solid Gold or Soul Train back in the 70s--PURE PHUNK. The encore of First Tube was a great version and closed out the first leg of Summer 2010 in perfect fashion with Trey going completely nuts and holding his guitar up providing strange feedback at the end before the band took a final bow to Alpharetta.

I have been blessed to have seen PHiSH at 112 shows in all shapes and sizes (from 300+phans in an art museum in Belgium 97 to 80K+ phans at our massive phestivals) and pheel this was one of the best I have seen in that 17 year span. My girlfriend has seen them only once now, and, prior to Alpharetta has often wondered and questioned why I spent so much time and energy going to see the same band over and over (hahaha--we know, don't we!!) But she validated my entire experience as a complete convert by witnessing and understanding the importance of such events as is best defined and that can ONLY be defined by BEING THERE. Blessed, I'll say!!

Thank you KINDLY for reading this and love and peace is shared to you wherever you are when you read this. So good to see all those I saw and so sorry to have missed those I missed seeing. Regardless, there will be many other times to continue our journey.

This show was special for many, many reasons. First, my best friend that I only have the opportunity to see once or twice a year lives in the Atlanta suburbs and this gave me the opportunity to see him--and his home for the first time. I met up with my friend in Charlotte and enjoyed an incredible show just two days prior that including the utlimate "bust-out" song in "Fuck Your Face" (which surprisingly my friend noticed first in the entire section) and our seats were located literally front row--on the rail--in front of Page.

After what we perceived to be a "good" but not "great" show the first night at Alpharetta (which upon later listens turned out to hold up very well, especially the "Tweezer"/"Slave" combo,) I left the venue and headed towards my car. As I approached the port-o-potties near the main lot, I glanced down and noticed someone's wallet lying on the gravel sidewalk. I opened the wallet to find out the name of the person and began to shout out the man's name (which I will refrain from repeating here,) multiple times in an unsuccessful venture towards reuniting the missing item to it's rightful owner. Inside the wallet I discovered that the contents included a ticket to the near-impossible to find Fourth of July ticket at the same venue.

After a long effort, I was unsuccessful in tracking down the owner. The next morning, I attempted to ask a popular online Phish community (Phantasy Tour) if anyone had lost a wallet the previous night. No one claimed the wallet, but suggested that I try a reverse find phone number search via the man's driver's license. Using a reverse phone search online, I was able to leave a message to the man's parents with my contact info. No less than an hour later, the man called and to his amazement, was reunited with his wallet, ticket and every other item completely in tact.

So, first off, I didn't want any sort of reward for returning the item or really any recognition, but after telling the story to some people, the general feeling was that karma would work in my favor. In fact, a member of the Phantasy Tour community proceeded to ask me if I wanted any song in particular that evening. I responded "I know it sounds generic, but I would really like a "Colonel Forbin's" or a "Harpua"".

Anyways, upon entering the venue, my long-time friend and I sat in our section along with his wife and older brother. We brought in a bag of orange ballons to blow up and pass around the crowd. I came up with the idea to write "Forbin" on each of the ballon. So, with the help of everyone in our section (about 10 or so people,) we blew up about 150 ballons and wrote "Forbin" on each ballon.

As the "pit" area of the crowd continued to bop the ballons around, several landed on the stage--including one that rested precisely on the side of Trey's guitar.

I am under the full belief that this effort, mixed in with the karma from earlier made this show what it was. This was one of the most entertaining and fun Phish shows I have ever attended. The show might not live on as a great recycled bootleg recording. There weren't any epic "Type II" jams. In fact, I will fully admit that while the opening to the second set ("Down With Disease", "Ghost" and "Piper") appears as the "holy trinity" of a possible musical exploration, the jams in each respective version failed to stand out.

However, the incredible rush that delivered a powerful, euphoric energy the second Trey hit the opening chords of "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" was a feeling I will never forget. Before I even had a chance to collect my thoughts and reflect on that moment, Phish followed with nearly an equally surprising "Camel Walk". If the show ended after that run of songs, I swear that this show would have still remained as incredible in my memory as it did at that time. The always entertaining classics "My Friend My Friend" and "David Bowie" followed after another high-energy, solo driven version of "Heavy Things". To close the set, "Gotta Jibboo" was the underrated highlight of the evening. The serene, building jam that developed out of "Jibboo" provided not only the night's best "jam" but a great send off to a memorable first set.

As I mentioned, although the beginning of the second set appeared to be a tantric dream of mind-altering experimental jam potential, the actual execution fell short and while the versions of each respective song ("DWD", "Ghost" and "Piper" ) were fun and still exceedingly entertaining, they failed to even challenge the first set's strong "Gotta Jibboo".

After an entertaining (by "entertaining" I mean comical lyrical flub on Trey's behalf,) during "Waste" and a still energetic "Julius", I was content with the show ending with a typical "Mike's Grove" as the opening scale was played. Little did anyone in the venue know, this "Grove" would develop into one of the most memorable portions of a Phish show in the 3.0 era.

The "Mike's Song" ended almost abruptly after less than 7 minutes and to a great surprise, concluded with the very rare "Tela". Then, similarly to the reaction I felt between the conclusion of "Fly Famous Mockingbird", before I could collect my thoughts, the eerie chant of "Ooom Pah Pah Ooom Pah Pah" went through the speaker system and elicited one of the strongest, loudest reactions I have ever heard--or so I thought (until the next song)--at a Phish show (or maybe anywhere.) After a Trey's story involving Jimmy listening to "the only other band that won't bullshit you--aside from Phish (paraphrasing)" the band errupted into the biggest, loudest one-time cover song of them all, Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name". I swear, for a 4 minute period, the peaceful atmosphere of a Phish concert mutated into a happily aggrivated mosh pit. A sea of noodle dancing fans pumped their fists in unison as Fishman spewed Zach de la Rocha's riot-inducing words.

After "Harpua's" conclusion and a standard "Weekapaug Groove" the band encored with a great visual "First Tube" that included Trey mimicing his "Jedi" poses of lifting his guitar vertically over his head to produce feedback and envoke the symbolism of Luke Skywalker.

Upon leaving the venue, there wasn't a frown in the building from anyone. Everywhere around us, people were hugging and buzzing from the performance--including the staff of the venue.

Overall, this was one of the most entertaining and inspiring Phish shows of recent vintage. Whether you were privileged enough to witness the rarities in the past or you experienced them for the first time this evening, the feeling was mutual that this was indeed a special experience.

cubsfantrey- I don't have a problem with heavy songs (big sabbath, primus fan)... just shitty ones, and "killin' in the name" is awful piece of music any way you slice it, and I'm still convinced it was played more in gest than out of any reverence or respect for it.

It just suprised me that people who follow such elaboratety crafted and complicated music would just as easily get off to a three minute MTV friendly screamathon stuffed at a would-be pivotal spot in a thoroughly mind bending set. To each his/her own and yadayadayada...

... a hogchoker is an flounder-like North American fresh water fish, mostly found in rivers and streams. It's flesh is generally too tough and rubbery to be chewed, thus the name.

This show was a great experience all around... really nice venue, (although for saturday show we had to park in the overflow... 2 miles away [they had shuttle buses] and i thought it was flat out unfair to the fans to play such a small venue for the fourth of july [even so, it was possible to get a free show from the hill outside the gate]), really not that many boston/philly balloon-sucking skeezebags that far south, the band was on and the hotel parties were fucking killer.

There's been a lot of talk about the 'killin' in the name' and dammit, one of my favorite aspects of the Phish phenomenon is unpredictability, but that songs sucked ten years ago, it still sucks today and it ripped me right out of a solid psychedelic set, that I was deeply into at the time. I mean, I stock up on the good stuff so I don't have to hear that kind of shit on the radio and there it was right in the middle of a nasty 4th of July show. I was pretty sure they were making fun of RATM at the time, but a large portion of the crowd didn't see it that way. Don't get me wrong, the place was rocking, but not the kind of energy I show up for. I thought the song kind of highlighted who the drunken hillbilly locals were, so the headier folks could avoid them on the way out... there were some serious 'necks in there throwing down... I'm not quite sure if a full on mosh pit broke out, but as far as I'm concerned the bus ran off the road a bit and I truly hope I don't have to sit through anymore I'm-angry-at-my-mom-because-she-won't-buy-me-a-new-skateboard shitrock at Phish shows from here on in.

Nevertheless, the First Tube encore was right back on target and might be the best overall song I saw this year, so it more than made up for angryfying the trip with the RATM nod. Overall, this show was more than worth the treck and the cost, and was a satisfying end to what I thought was a beautiful southern run. My friend was out on the hill outside the gate for the saturday show; he said the Alpharetta cops were out there dancing with sparklers some children had given them- good vibes all around in GA.

Sitting on the rail in front of Trey was extra-special on this occasion. It is clear they are having fun, we are having fun and shows will only continue to be awesome.
The energy during "Killing in the Name" was amazing!!! Reminded me of Miami when George Clinton came out--except the venue became a mosh pit. Also of Deer Creek 2000 "Moby Dick" show...
Thanks Guys!

Here's a show whereby the adjective "epic" wouldn't be entirely hyperbolical, although that doesn't mean I think it's an all-timer. The setlist is stacked, though, even if Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird doesn't really have any narration. Heavy Things is played without Trey's pointillist little loop--you know, the beeping sound that pretty much defines that song for me--but I still love the song. David Bowie, Gotta Jibboo is a strong way to close a first set, and overall the playing in this set is tight but interactive, with some excellent listening by all four band members. The second set is likewise chock-full, with Down with Disease and Piper both heading out into some similar jamming territory in their respective renderings, while Ghost has a little "extra mustard," as they say. I'm a huge fan of Rage Against the Machine, but I admit I liked the frame around Killing in the Name better than the actual recital of the song, which felt somewhat imprecise and not-to-be-compared with the original album version from their 1992 eponymous debut. It's still quite a gesture, though, and I always smile when I'm reminded of this night if only for that reason. I definitely feel like this second night of the two-night run in Alpharetta in 2010 was the better of the two, and how fortunate is Georgia to get two (2!) Independence Days? The other was at Lakewood in 1999... highly recommended run there as well.

I finally got around to hearing the board of this show and I can't believe what I just heard! Just as ghost settles into a sick groove I begin to hear it. An obnoxoius, intoxicated redneck begins to whistle as loud as sub-humanly possible. This goes on for close to 3 minutes which totally ruined the jam. How could people around this mutant allow that to go on so long? Get an AUD copy of this one.

Hogchoker what an apropriate name. You seem like you bringe a pretty negative vibe. Try just enjoying yourself. stop being such a hater. Those shows were sick including the rage, which phish was most certainly not making fun of. Can,t wait to do fall tour maybe you should try couch tour,I,d hate for them too play anything heavy and maybe upset you.

i couldn't express enough the vibe that was floating around at these two shows...from the lot to the venue everyone was just feelin it...it was my fiances first show and didnt know how she was going to take it, i wanted her to make her own judgment...wow, i think this whole week we have found a new natural bond to our relationship...she smiles ear to ear every time we start talking about the show...man, i great feeling to have...

besides running into a couple of sketchy people, everyone was brought together old, young, first comers and follwers, we all took this one in for the books...i haven't felt this type of energy in their music in a while...trey was smile, mike was groovin, page was rockin and fishman was straight pounding!!! thanks for bringing it back to the A!!

Hey Lumpyheadcarini get with the program bud. "killing" was a novelty song that the boys like to play during Harpua. You won't be hearing them play it again so don't worry your little head. By the way I thought it was excecuted to perfection. Great setlist! Great Venue! Great vibes! Great show!!!!! Now go download it and re-live one of the greatist moments in Phistory.

I wasn't at this show, but was at the show the night before. This setlist, if I would have seen it back in 2000, I would have thought it was a joke. Col. Forbins > Mockingbird, Camel Walk, Bowie, Mike's Groove, and Harpua...all in the same show?!?! Wow. I've downloaded it and listened to it; the energy is just as amped as the night before, perhaps more so. However, musically, the only real stand out is the DWD > Piper > Ghost. Gotta Jiboo and Bowie are not too shabby either. I do feel though, that 7/3 was better played. I'm not just saying that because I'm biased for being there. It also sounds as if Trey is content keeping songs shorter than they did back in the days of 95'-2000. That's not really a bad thing though. For example, the Bathtub from 7/3 was 12 minutes long, yet it featured Trey SHREDDING it, FANNING it (whatever you want to call it), for the last 3 minutes of the song. Weekapaug from this show was the same way...shorter tha usual (7 min) but packed with 20+ minutes of energy...if that makes sense. Gone are the days we get those 25+ minute versions of funk or ambient space. But hey, I would rather have a 13 song first set that doesn't include any epic long jams, than get a 5 song first set! Remember 9/23/00 at Rosemont Horizon? Phish is back folks! And these 2 Atlanta shows were the highlight of the tour, if not the whole post retirement.

Note: This is a Couch Tour review, so keep that in mind. Look no further than Set II to realize the awesome-ness of this show.

After Forbin's>Mockingbird I knew they were going to bring it this show and there was no telling where they would take things. Ocelot was a nice jam and one of the new songs that I really like. MFMF was nice and Jibboo as a closer was interesting but worked out well.

I was a little "annoyed" that they went with DWD again as the second set opener but it's Phish playing live so what's to really complain about. As soon as they got into the jam of DWD I forgot about any apprehension I had and just rocked out. Piper>Ghost was sick and took me back to MPP night 2 earlier this tour. Waste was a good cool down and it was amusing (to me at least) to hear Trey flub the lyrics a little.

Now here is where things started to get wild. Julius is always a rockin' tune and they transitioned right into Mike's Song which filled everyone's "funk quota" for the evening. Harpua>Killing in the Name> Harpua > Paug has to be the highlight of the show though. That sh!t was wild and had me going nuts. Keep in mind this was all on a crackly, choppy stream so imagine what it was like live! I never thought I would head-bang to Phish but they had me raging! (pun intended). I would have loved to have seen what the pit looked like right up front.

All in all, awesome Early Summer Tour closer and after this leg as a whole, it's just been confirmed that Greek/Telluride are going to be INSANE. Anything can happen at this point.

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